Monday, September 27, 2010

"This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness." -Elisabeth Elliot

Sunday, September 19, 2010

One of the Jacobsen family traditional favorites is Baked Alaska. It's a very special dessert and would usually only be made for very special occasions - such as when Dad's little brother was in the States.
It's best when it's eaten all in one sitting, so having a table full of people was also a prerequisite!

John and I didn't have anything special happening, but a few days ago I had a hankering for some charred meringue atop of a slice of ice cream and cake. Plus, I felt that John needed to experience something that I had such fond memories of!

I knew the gist of the recipe by heart - slices of cake in the bottom of a pie dish topped with ice cream and meringue, brown the meringue, splash it all with some alcohol and strike a match - but I pulled out my copy of the Joy of Cooking just to be sure. :)

According to the Joy of Cooking, the first step is to line your baking dish with a half inch layer ofcake - bothsponge and angel cake are recommended. My family always used pound cake which tasted delicious and stood up to the weight of the ice cream quite well. I deviated from both and used a pan of brownies as the base.

Next, make up your meringue. Beat 6 egg whites until frothy. Beat in 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, a pinch of salt, 2/3 cup sugar (adding the sugar slowly) and 1 tsp vanilla and continue to beat until the egg whites are stiff.

Once the meringue is quite stiff and glossy, mound 1 - 1 1/2 quarts of slightly softened ice cream on top of the cake. I used coffee ice cream, but any flavor combinations are acceptable! Fruit flavored ice cream is especially good.
Joy of Cooking says to next lay strips of your cake over the mounded ice cream. I didn't, and my meringue didn't quite cook through, so I am guessing that this is an important step! At this point you may choose to freeze the Baked Alaska for 30 minutes or so to firm it up.

Spread the meringue over the ice cream and cake, taking care to cover right down to the edge of the baking dish.Rinse off half of one of the egg shells and place it on the top (this will hold the alcohol).Brown the whole thing under a 500 degree broiler for no more than 3 minutes. It browns quickly, so watch carefully!

Grab some plates and forks and matches and tell everyone to gather round! Pour about 2-3 tblsp of alcohol into the egg shell and shake the Baked Alaska so that some runs down the sides. Strike a match, turn off the lights ... and voila!

you stop by the Starbucks by church (which doesn't have a drive-through but has a very convenient location) and are so preoccupied with guiding the little feet back out the door and balancing the coffee and infant carseat that you forget to put the cream in your coffee - after you asked them to leave extra room for it, too!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

My sister-in-law posted some ultrasound photos of our new little nephew or niece on facebook the other day.
As I was looking at them this morning I found myself choking up - they amaze me.
This little one already has a soul, an eternal soul. God knows his/her name and has known it since before the beginning of time. Even before it was ever spoken of, He know of Baby Smillie's existence. Oh, these things are amazing and full of wonder.

I was thinking about the verses where God talks about knowing us before we were conceived, knitting our bones and muscles together, seeing us while we were hidden away in the safety and darkness of our mothers' wombs.Amazing.

O LORD, you havesearched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,"
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
-psalm 139:1-18

Preheat oven to 350 and oil a large rimmed cookie sheet.
In a mixing bowl combine the oats, nuts, coconut and fruit. In a separate large mixing bowl, mix the wet ingredients and the spices. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet.

Spread the mixture evenly on the cookie sheet, using a spatula to smooth it. Bake for around 40 minutes, keeping an eye on it so that it doesn't get over done. When it starts to brown, turn the mixture over with the spatula to make sure that it toasts evenly on both sides.

When it is ready, take it out of the oven and let it cool. Store in an airtight container and serve with milk or yogurt. :)

Friday, September 03, 2010

...it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot.
Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God.
-ecclesiastes 5:18-19

Happiness in our work is a gift from God, as are satisfaction and contentment.
Contentment has been near the front of my thoughts for the past several weeks ...

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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not take them bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;//Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,//
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.//I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made the difference.
.robert frost.

"These little moments ... matter, for they are where we live every day."
- Paul David Tripp